Prepayment gas-meter.



No. 706,922. Patented Aug. l2, I902.

J. GEEN.

PBEPAYMENT GAS METER.

(Application filed Nov. 2. 1901.) (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheat I.

.[ve ven Z 02" Jkem ea Geen/ No. 706,922. Patented Aug. l2, I902.

. J. GEEN.

PREPAYMENT GAS METER.

A licmmmea Nov. 2. 1001.)

(No- Modul.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N0. 706,922. Patented Aug, l2, I902.

J. GEEN.

PREPAYMENT GAS METER.

(Application filed Nov. 2, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheats-Sheet 3.

Emacs Geen/ UNITED STATES.

ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES GEEN, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

PREPAYMENT GAS-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 708,922, dated August 12., 1902.

' Application filed November 2,1901. Serial No; 80,839. (No model.)

To all whom [It may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES-GEEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hoboken, county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prepayment Gas-Meters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to gas-meters, and particularly to that class of gas-meters called prepayment-meters. in which the user by the insertion of a coin of the proper denomination may secure a'certain number of given feet of gas for each coin so inserted. The construction is such that when the amount of gas purchased has been exhausted the apparatus automatically locks, andno further delivery will be made until another coin has been introduced.

Among the objects of my invention are simplicity, efiectiveness, and durability of construction,positiveness and certainty of action.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a'meter. Fig. 2 is aplan View thereof, slightly enlarged, with the top removed. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig.

3, the parts being slightly enlarged and shown in the same position. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4. Figs. 6, '7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16 are views of detached details of construction. Fig. 12 is an illustration of a modification of certain details of construction. 7

1 is a meter of any approved pattern.

2 is a spindle rotated by the operation of a bellows. 3 is an arm carried by the said spindle 2, the outer end of which is preferably removable for the purpose hereinafter described.

4 5 are swinging levers operated by the bellows. i

6 7 are links connecting the levers 4 5, respectively, with the arm'3 of the spindle 2.

8 is a locking-bolt located in the path of rotation of the arm 3 and controlled automatically, so that when it is desired to cut off the supply of gas the said looking-bolt 8 is adapted to projectinto the path of movement and check the rotation of the said arm 3.

9 is a lever pivoted at 10.

11 is a shoulder carried by the lever 9 and bearing against the cam 12, having a. suitable hub for connecting it with sleeve 13, loosely mounted on arbor 1 1, which is made, preferably, in two pieces, the two parts of which are preferably held in alinement by means of a suitable dowel 15.

16 is an operating-handle mounted on a shaft 17.

18 is a ratchet-wheel carried bythe shaft 17.

19 19 are pawls carried on the plate 20. in turn carried by a cam-shaft 21. mounted on shaft 21. I

23 is a sliding bar, one end of which bears against the cam 22 and may be yieldingly pressed toward said cam by a spring 24.

25 is an arm carried by the sliding bar 23, the said arm 25 engaging suitably with the sleeve 13-for example, by bifurcating the same, as shown in Fig. 6.

higher part of the cam 22. This shifting movement draws the sleeve from left to right in Fig. 4. i

26 27 are ratchets with oppositely-arranged teeth, the said ratchets being mounted upon the sleeve 13 at opposite ends thereof.

28 29 are pawl-carrying plates, the pawls of which are designed to respectively engage with the ratchets 26 and 27. The ratchet-can. rying'plates 28 and 29 are mounted on the shaft 14, one on one section thereof and the other on the other section. In Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive, the pawls of plate 28 are in engagement with the ratchet 26. When the operating-handle 16 is turned and the sleeve 13 shifted to the right, the ratchet 26 is freed from the pawls on plate 28 and the ratchet 27 is thrown into'engagement with the pawls on plate 29. The pawls on plates 28 and 29 are properly shapedfor example, by tapering their faces, as shown in detail Figs. 13, 14, and 16-so that ready entrance of the ratchets may be effected and prevent the j amming of the parts.

30 is a dial-box carrying suitable dials,which are controlled by the advance of the machine. The particular arrangement of the dials by which the units are counted off is too obvious and well known to require description. Suificient to say that the units-dial is controlled by a shaft 31, which is directly engaged with the mechanism automatically operated By rotating the handle 16 the cam 22 causes the bar 23 to shift from the lower part of the cam to the 2 is a cam by the bellows. The shaft 31 carries the 2 to 5 inclusive, the mechanism, is about to stop; the lever 9 has been tilted by reason of I the extension 11 dropping into thecam 12,

so that the bolt 8 has been elevated to stand in-the path of the arm 3. Oonsequentlygas soon as the arm has turned sufficiently'far to engage the bolt 8, further'movement will be checked and the meter will not operate untilanother payment is made.

The means for inserting the-coin and operating the shaft 17 may be described-generally as follows: It comprises a'slot'36, having a passage therethrough of a size approximating the width and thickness of a coin of the proper denomination. 37 37 are side bars pivoted suitably to the sides of the slot-36, the said I side bars carrying at each end gates 38 '39. When the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 8 and 10, the gate 38is' removed from the entrance to the slot 36,'whereupon a coin may be inserted,- as shown. In this position the coin rests upon the gate 39, which blocks its further passage. The operator may now press in the gate 38,-which will close the entrance to the slot and cut off any connection with the coin. At the same time the gate 39 is removed from the lower end of the slot, allowing the coin to drop into the position shown in Fig. 9, in which it rests in a suitable pocket-in the shaft 17, assuming approximatelythe position-shown in Fig. 11.- When the operating-handle 1G is turned, the upper edge of the coin serves as a lever to tilt the latch 40, elevating the same and unlockingit from the plate 20, which may have suitable notches 41 at opposite edges thereof to receive a pin 42, carried by the latch 40. Therotation of the handle, as before stated, transmits rotative movement to the cam 22, which in turn shifts the sleeve 13 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the right and to the opposite position, in whichthe ratchet 27 en.- gages with the pawls on-the plate 29. 43 is a gear carried by the shaft 17, meshing with the idler 44, meshing with gear 45, mounted upon the outer end of shaft 14, which outer section carries the pawl-carrying plate 29.

It will be seen that in operation the rotation of the handle 16 when the proper coin is in place unlocks the mechanism and trans mits rotative movement through gears 43, 44, and 45 to the pawl-carrying plate 29, which then being in engagement with the sleeve 13 through ratchet 27 rotates the cam 12 a distance determined by the rotation of the handle 16. This rotation of the cam 12 elevates the shoulder 11 on the lever 9, tilting the same and dropping the bolt 8 from in front of k the arm 3, at the same time revolving a scrollcam 46, which bears against a-lever 47, which may carry a pointer 48, which may traverse a graduated scale 49 in the dial-box 30 to indicate to the consumer the amount of gas purdle 16 must be turned to the original position 1 before another coin can be inserted.

chance theoperating-handle is not turned one complete half of a rotation, so as to eject the coin with certainty, and the coin does not' drop out, an auxiliary lock is provided,whereby the mechanismis prevented from working until the handle has been turned sufficiently If by far to discharge the coin into a'suitable receptacle. This auxiliary lock comprises an extension of the arm 23, which has an enlarged slot in its outer end, through which passes a stop 50. When the shoulder on the slide 23 rests in the lower part of the cam 22, the stop 50 is tilted,as shown in Figs. 3 mo, inclusive, in which position the arm 3 is free to move around and over said stop. If, how

ever, the handle 16 is not turned one complete half-rotation, so that the coin will be discharged, then the shoulder on slide 23 will stand'npon-the high part of the cam 22 and theslide 23 will be retracted and in turn swings the stop 50 to the upright position, so that it will stand in the path of rotative movement of the arm 3, preventing its movement until the coin is discharged. The handle may remain'inthe inverted position or it may be turned back to the upright position. In any intermediate position, however, the stop 50 will stand vertically, so as to lock the arm 3. I

Obviouslythe consumer may insert-a single coin and purchase its value in gas, or he may insert more than one fcoinfor example, three or four coinspurchasing a corresponding amount of gas. When a purchase is made, the cams l2 and 46 are rotated a certain distance, depending upon the number of coins put in. For example, the insertion of a single coin will rotate the cam 12 a fraction of its circumference, the insertion of another coin will rotate it a corresponding fraction in addition thereto, and so on. Q When the purchase has been-made and the handle has been left in either the upright or the inverted position, the slide-bar 23 shifts back to its normal position by the action of a spring 24 or its equivalent, in which position the ratchet 27 is freed from the pawls 29' and the ratchet 26 is engaged with the pawl 28. In this position the passage of gas through the meter will cause the cams 12 and 46 to rotate in an opposite direction to that caused by the rotation of the operating-handle, so that the shoulder 11 will traverse the distance upon the high part of the cam 12 corresponding to the purchasemade. As soon as the amount of gas purchased has been consumed the re cess in the cam 12 is reached, whereupon the shoulder ll drops and, as before stated, tilts the arm 9, throwing the bolt 8 into the path of the arm 3, stopping the machine. During this period the nose on lever 47 rides down the spiral cam 46, and the pointer upon the purchase-scale 49 indicates how much gas will be delivered in order to completethe balance of the purchase.

It is obvious that manyvariations may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

In Fig. 12 I have shown one feature of my invention in'which the cam 22 is merely reversed. A suitable link mechanism is ,inserted between the said cam and the slide 23 to retract said slide when the cam is advanced. This connection comprises an L-shapedextension 51 for slide 23 and a pivoted link 52. ,In the drawings the slide 23 is operated in one direction by a spring. The lever 40 may be operated by gravity orby a spring, or by both. In Fig. 9 I have shown an auxiliary means comprising a sprii1g53.tosupplement the action of gravity in throwing the latch into the locking position, so as to project the pin 42 into the locking-notches 4:1 in the edge of plate 20. i

It will be observed that in practice the coin acts as a part of the mechanism, its function being to lift the latch 40. Consequently its diameter must be proper to elevate thelatch sufficiently, when the shaft 17 is being turned to entirely free the pin 4-2from either of the notches .tLwith which it may happento be engaged.

Oneof the advantagesof making the outerend of thearm 3 removableis thatit permits the changing of the apparatus from a coin-. controlled meter to the ordinary rneter,which is adapted to run on continuously so long as gas is used and is not checked afteracertain predetermined quantity is measured off. For

example, the bellows or meter is locked by Wheel on each end of said shifting device, a

revoluble plate carrying a yielding pawl for engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carrying a yielding pawl for engagement with the other of said ratcl1 ets said second plate being controlled from a manually-operated shaft, and means for connecting said shifting device with one or the other-of said revoluble plates.

2. In a device of the character described, a

revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shifting device having both rotatable and longitudinal movement and acain carried a rotatable second cam manually controlled and operating a longitudinally-sliding bar for throwing said shifting device into connection with one or the other of said revoluble plates.

3. In a device of the character described, a

. revoluble spindle, a. movable stop-bolt therefor, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movementand a cam carried by said shifting device for controlling said stop-bolt, a ratchet-Wheel on each end of said shifting device, a revoluble plate carrying a yielding pawl for engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carry- 5 ing a yielding pawl for engagement with the l other of said ratchets said secondplate being controlled from a manually-operated shaft said plates carrying stop-pins for said pawls,

and a cam and sliding bar controlled by said manually-operated shaft for operating said shifting device.

4. In a device of the character described, a

revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt there-v for, a shifting device having bothrotative and longitudinal movement, a cam carried thereby for controlling said stop-bolt, a

ratchet-wheel on each end of said shifting device a revoluble late carr in a awl for i engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carrying a pawl for engagee ment with the other of saidra-tchets saidv second plate being controlled from a manually operatedshaft, and means for connecting said shifting device with one or the other of said revoluble plates, said shifting device carrying a cam for controlling a lever to indicate the position of said stop-bolt-controlling cam, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the character described, a revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movement, acam carried thereby for controlling said stop-bolt, a ratchetwheel on each end of said shifting device, a revoluble plate carrying a pivoted pawl for engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carrying a pivoted pawl for engagement with the other of said ratchets said second plate being controlled from a normally disengaged but manuallyoperated shaft, and means for connecting said shifting device with one or the other of said &

revoluble plates, said means also controlling a supplementary stop-bolt.

6. In a device of the character described, a revoluble spindle, a movable st0p-bolt therefor, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movement, a cam carried thereby for controlling said stop-bolt,a ratchetwheel on each end of said shifting device, a revoluble plate carrying a pawl for engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carrying a yielding pawl for engagement with the other of said ratchets said second plate being controlled from a manually-operated shaft, which also operates a cam and thus a sliding bar for throwing said shifting device in connection with one or the other of said revoluble plates, said sliding bar also operating a supplementary stopbolt, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the character described, a revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movement and a cam carried thereby for controlling said stop-bolt, a ratchet-wheel on each end of said shifting device, a revoluble plate carryingapivoted pawl having its lateral face beveled for engagement with one of said ratchets said plate being driven from said spindle, a second revoluble plate carrying a pivoted pawl having its lateral face beveled for engagement with the other of said ratchets said second plate being controlled from a manually-operated shaft, and means for connecting said shifting device with one or the other of said revoluble plates.

8. In adevice of the character described, a-

revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shaft driven from said revoluble spindle, a second shaft manually controlled and in line with said first shaft, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movement upon the adjacent ends of said shafts, ratchets carried by each end of said shifting device, spring-pressed pawls carried by each of said shafts adjacent said ratchets, and means for throwing said shifting device into engagement with either one of said pawls,

said shifting device controlling the movement of said stop-bolt, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the character described, a revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shaft driven from said revoluble spindle, a second shaft manually controlled and in line with said first shaft, a shifting device having both rotative and longitudinal movement upon the adjacent ends of said shafts, ratchets carried by each end of said shifting device, pivoted pawls carried by each of said shafts adjacent said ratchets, and means for throwing said shifting device into engagement with either one of said pawls, and a sliding bar controlled from said manuallyoperated shaft by a cam for longitudinally moving said shifting device and at the same time actuating a supplementary stop-bolt.

10. In a device of the characterdescribed, a revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, a shifting device for controlling said stopbolt, a shaft carrying a double-notched cam for operating said shifting device, a manuallycontrolled shaft, and means for connecting said manually-controlled shaft and said camcarry-ing shaftwhereby said shifting device is returned to its normal position without returning said manually-controlled shaft to its normal position, substantially as described. 11. In adevice of the characterdescribed, a revoluble spindle, a movable stop-bolt therefor, ashifting device for controlling said stopbolt, a shaft carrying a double-notched cam foroperating said shifting device, a manuallycontrolled shaft, and means for connecting said man ually-controlled shaft and said camcarrying shaft whereby said shifting device is returned to its normal position without returning said manually-controlled shaft to its normal position, and a supplementary bolt controlled by said cam, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 17th day of October, 1901.

JAMES GEEN.

Witnesses:

L. VREELAND, ROBT. S. ALLYN. 

